View source for Alexei Shirov

{{short description|Latvian-Spanish chess grandmaster (born 1972)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox chess player
| name = Alexei Shirov
| image = AShirov10.jpg
| caption = Alexei Shirov, 2010
| country = [[Soviet Union]] (until 1991)<br />[[Latvia]] (1991–95, 2011–18)<br />[[Spain]] (1995–2011, since 2018)
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1972|7|4|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Riga]], Latvia<!-- Do not change to Soviet Union. The subject of Latvia's incorporation into the USSR is controversial, and there is currently no consensus on Wikipedia whether to include people from the Baltic states as Soviet-born or not. -->
| death_date = 
| death_place = 
| title = [[Grandmaster (chess)|Grandmaster]] (1990)
| worldchampion = 
| peakrating = 2755 (January 2008)
| peakranking = No. 2 (January 1994)
| FideID = 2209390
}}

'''Alexei Shirov''' ({{Langx|ru|Алексе́й Дми́триевич Ши́ров|Alexey Dmitrievich Shirov}}, {{langx|lv|Aleksejs Širovs}}; born 4 July 1972) is a Latvian and Spanish [[chess]] player. Shirov was ranked number two in the world in 1994.<ref>[http://www.olimpbase.org/Elo/Elo199401e.html FIDE Rating List: January 1994]. OlimpBase.</ref> 

He won a match against [[Vladimir Kramnik]] in 1998 to qualify to play as challenger for the classical world championship match with [[Garry Kasparov]]; it never took place due to a lack of sponsorship.

==Career==
Shirov became the [[World Youth Chess Championship|world under-16 champion]] in 1988 and was the runner-up at the [[World Junior Chess Championship|World Junior Championship]] in 1990 (second on tiebreaks to [[Ilya Gurevich]]). In the same year, he achieved the title of [[International Grandmaster|Grandmaster]]. Shirov is the winner of numerous international tournaments: [[Biel Chess Festival|Biel]] 1991, [[Madrid]] 1997 (shared first place with [[Veselin Topalov]]), [[Ter Apel]] 1997, [[Monte Carlo]] 1998, [[Mérida, Spain|Mérida]] 2000, [[Paul Keres Memorial Tournament|Paul Keres Memorial Rapid Tournament]] in [[Tallinn]] (2004, 2005, 2011,<ref>{{cite web|title=Alexei Shirov wins Keres Memorial in Tallinn|url=http://en.chessbase.com/post/alexei-shirov-wins-keres-memorial-in-tallinn|publisher=ChessBase|access-date=8 January 2016|date=2011-01-10}}</ref> 2012,<ref>{{cite web|title=Alexei Shirov Wins Paul Keres Memorial|url=http://www.chessdom.com/alexei-shirov-wins-paul-keres-memorial/|publisher=Chessdom|access-date=8 January 2016|date=2012-01-08}}</ref> 2013),<ref>{{cite web|last1=Doggers|first1=Peter|title=Shirov again first at Paul Keres Memorial Rapid|url=http://www.chessvibes.com/?q=reports/shirov-again-first-at-paul-keres-memorial-rapid|publisher=ChessVibes|access-date=8 January 2016|date=2013-01-16}}</ref> [[Canadian Open Chess Championship]] 2005.

He reached second on the [[FIDE]] rating list in January and July 1994, behind [[Anatoly Karpov]], though [[Garry Kasparov]] was excluded from those lists and was rated higher. In 1998, Shirov's ranking rose again, to number four in the [[Professional Chess Association|PCA]] rating list. On the basis of this rating, he was invited to play a ten-game match against [[Vladimir Kramnik]] to select a challenger for [[World Chess Championship|PCA World Champion]] [[Garry Kasparov]]. Shirov [[Classical World Chess Championship 2000|won the match]] with two wins, no losses and seven draws.<ref>[http://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/9899gkix.htm 1998–99 World Chess Council], Mark Week's Chess pages</ref> However, the plans for the Kasparov match fell through when sufficient financial backing could not be found. When Kasparov instead [[Classical World Chess Championship 2000|played Kramnik for Kasparov's world title in 2000]], Shirov maintained that the match was invalid and he was the rightful challenger.<ref>[http://www.rochadekuppenheim.de/meko/shirov.html Interview by Hartmut Metz], May 2000, translation by Harald Fietz</ref>

In 2000, Shirov reached the final of the [[FIDE World Chess Championship 2000|FIDE World Chess Championship]], losing 3½–½ to [[Viswanathan Anand]].

In 2002, he played in the [[Classical_World_Chess_Championship_2004|Candidates Tournament]] to choose a challenger for Classical World Champion Kramnik. He won his group of four, but lost his semi-final 2½–½ to eventual winner [[Peter Leko]].

In May–June 2007 he played in the [[Candidates Tournament]] of the [[World Chess Championship 2007]]. He won his first-round match against [[Michael Adams (chess player)|Michael Adams]] (+1−1=4, won in rapid playoff), but was eliminated when he lost his second-round match to [[Levon Aronian]] (+0−1=5). {{As of|2023|post=,}} this is Shirov's last appearance at a Candidates Tournament.

In November–December 2007 Shirov played in the [[Chess World Cup 2007]], which was a qualifier for the [[World Chess Championship 2010]]. He made the final, but lost the final 2½–1½ to [[Gata Kamsky]].

In May 2009, Alexei Shirov won the [[Chess tournament#Tournament categories|category 21]] [[M-Tel Masters|M-Tel Masters 2009]] tournament, held in [[Sofia]], Bulgaria.

In September 2010, Shirov participated in the Grand Slam Chess Masters preliminary tournament in [[Shanghai]], where he faced world No. 4 [[Levon Aronian]], world No. 5 [[Vladimir Kramnik]], and [[Wang Hao (chess player)|Wang Hao]]; the top two scorers qualified for the Grand Slam final supertournament from October 9 to 15 in Bilbao against world No. 1 [[Magnus Carlsen]] and World Champion [[Viswanathan Anand]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=6567 |title=Final Chess Masters 2010 in Shanghai and Bilbao |date=2 August 2010 |publisher=Chessbase.com |access-date=2012-03-19}}</ref> After drawing his first two games, Shirov then won three consecutive games, including his first victory over Kramnik since 2003.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=6658 |title=Shanghai Masters: Shirov beats Kramnik to take the lead |date=6 September 2010 |publisher=Chessbase.com |access-date=2012-03-19}}</ref> Finishing with 4½/6 points, Shirov won the tournament, qualifying along with Kramnik for the Grand Slam final.<ref>{{cite web|first=Mark | last=Crowther | date=8 September 2010 |url=http://www.chess.co.uk/twic/chessnews/events/shanghai-masters-2010 |title=Shanghai Masters 2010 |publisher=Chess.co.uk |access-date=2012-03-19 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120305020335/http://www.chess.co.uk/twic/chessnews/events/shanghai-masters-2010 |archive-date=2012-03-05 }}</ref>

In May 2011, Shirov won a strong round-robin tournament in [[Lublin]], Poland, the 3rd [[Lublin Grandmaster Tournament|Lublin Union Memorial]] 2011 with a score of 5/7.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://discusschess.com/shirov-steals-the-show-in-lublin.html |title=Shirov steals the show in Lublin &#124; Blogs, ChessVibes &#124; Chess Tactics – Discuss Chess and Learn Chess – Chess News – Nebraska Chess – Chess Nebraska – Play Through Chess Games Online |publisher=Discusschess.com |date=2011-05-23 |access-date=2012-03-19 }}{{dead link|date=July 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> In December 2011, he switched back federations from Spain to Latvia.<ref>[https://ratings.fide.com/fedchange.phtml?year=2011 Player transfers in 2011]. FIDE.</ref>

In February 2012, Shirov won the [[Aivars Gipslis]] Memorial in Riga with 8 points out of 9.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chessdom.com/aivars-gipslis-memorial-alexei-shirov-clear-first|title=Aivars Gipslis Memorial – Alexei Shirov clear first|date=2012-02-12|publisher=Chessdom|access-date=19 February 2012}}</ref> In June 2012 Shirov won the Buenos Aires Masters Tournament (category 13) with 5½/7.

In August 2013, he played in the [[Chess World Cup 2013|Chess World Cup]]. He won his first-round match against [[Hou Yifan]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5ulitPUJNU  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/S5ulitPUJNU |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|title=An interview with Alexei Shirov at the FIDE World Cup 2013|publisher=ChessVibes |access-date=2014-01-25}}{{cbignore}}</ref> and was eliminated when he lost his second round match to [[Wei Yi]]. In August 2015, Shirov won the 5th [[Riga Technical University Open]] edging out [[Robert Hovhannisyan]] on tiebreak score, after both players finished on 7½/9.<ref>{{cite web|title=GM Alexei Shirov clinches the title in 5th Riga Technical University Open|url=http://www.chessdom.com/gm-alexei-shirov-clinches-the-title-in-5th-riga-technical-university-open/|publisher=Chessdom|access-date=10 October 2015|date=2015-08-19|archive-date=2018-08-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180822181402/http://www.chessdom.com/gm-alexei-shirov-clinches-the-title-in-5th-riga-technical-university-open/|url-status=dead}}</ref> In March 2017, Shirov won the [[Mikhail Tal]] Memorial blitz tournament in [[Jūrmala]] scoring 9½/11 points.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://theweekinchess.com/html/twic1165.html#7|title=The Week in Chess 1165|website=theweekinchess.com|access-date=2018-01-03}}</ref>

In 2018 and 2019, he won the 5th and 6th [[Arica]] Open.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Week in Chess 1311|url=https://theweekinchess.com/html/twic1311.html#15|access-date=2020-07-09|website=theweekinchess.com}}</ref>

In September 2020, during the [[FIDE Online Chess Olympiad 2020]], Shirov won the [[Gazprom]] [[Brilliancy (chess)|Brilliancy]] Prize for his win as Black against [[Danyyil Dvirnyy]] in the [[Slav Defense]], involving a [[queen sacrifice]] in a [[queenside]] attack, and achieved an overall score of 13/15 (+12−1=2) playing for the Spanish team.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://en.chessbase.com/post/alexei-shirov-wins-gazprom-brilliancy-prize|title=Alexei Shirov wins Gazprom Brilliancy Prize|date=2020-09-05 |access-date=2020-09-08|work=[[ChessBase]]}}</ref>

In February 2021, Shirov won the 3rd [[Salamanca]] Chess Festival with a score of 6/7.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Week in Chess 1370|url=https://theweekinchess.com/html/twic1370.html#4|access-date=2021-02-19|website=theweekinchess.com}}</ref>

Through February and March 2022, Shirov played in the [[FIDE Grand Prix 2022]]. In the first leg, he placed fourth in Pool D with a 1.5/6 result. In the second leg, he tied with [[Vladimir Fedoseev]] for third in Pool C with a result of 2.5/6, finishing last in the standings with one point.

In July 2023, Shirov played in the 2023 [[Canadian Open Chess Championship]]. Shirov placed first with a result of 8.5/10.

==Personal life==
Shirov is of [[Russian people|Russian]] descent. In 1994 he married an [[Argentina|Argentine]], Verónica Álvarez, moved to [[Tarragona]], and became a citizen of [[Spain]]. From 2001 to 2007, he was married to [[Lithuania]]n [[Viktorija Čmilytė]], also a chess grandmaster and one of the strongest female chess players in the world.<ref>[http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=5011 ChessBase interview with Ruslan Ponomariov] (see last paragraph), November 12, 2008</ref> Shortly before the Shanghai 2010 tournament, Shirov got married for a third time to WIM Olga Dolgova.<ref>{{cite web|last=l'Ami|first=Alina|author-link=Alina l'Ami|title=Interview with Olga Dolgova, the woman behind a top GM!|url=http://www.alinalami.com/2011/03/interview-with-olga-dolgova-woman.html|publisher=Official website of Alina l'Ami|access-date=9 October 2015|date=2011-03-10}}</ref> At that time he still played for Spain, but he and his wife also had an apartment in Riga, Latvia.

==Playing style==
{{algebraic notation|pos=section}}
Shirov is noted for his attacking style, a tendency which has led to comparisons with fellow Latvian and former world champion, [[Mikhail Tal]], under whom he studied in his youth.{{Citation needed|date=October 2017}}

===Illustrative game===
{{Chess diagram small
|tright
|Topalov vs. Shirov, 1998
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  
|  |  |  |  |kd|pd|pd|  
|  |  |  |pd|  |  |  |  
|pd|  |  |  |  |  |  |pl
|  |  |bl|  |  |  |  |bd
|  |  |  |  |  |  |pl|  
|  |  |  |  |  |  |kl|  
|Position after 47...Bh3!! This move is placed number one in [[John Emms (chess player)|John Emms]]' book ''The Most Amazing Chess Moves of All Time''.
|reverse=true
}}
During the 1998 [[Linares chess tournament]] Shirov played Black against future [[FIDE]] [[World Chess Championship|world champion]] [[Veselin Topalov]] and won by sacrificing his only bishop in a bishop and pawn ending: 
:1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Bb5+ c6 8.Ba4 0-0 9.Ne2 Nd7 10.0-0 e5 11.f3 Qe7 12.Be3 Rd8 13.Qc2 Nb6 14.Bb3 Be6 15.Rad1 Nc4 16.Bc1 b5 17.f4 exd4 18.Nxd4 Bg4 19.Rde1 Qc5 20.Kh1 a5 21.h3 Bd7 22.a4 bxa4 23.Ba2 Be8 24.e5 Nb6 25.f5 Nd5 26.Bd2 Nb4 27.Qxa4 Nxa2 28.Qxa2 Bxe5 29.fxg6 hxg6 30.Bg5 Rd5 31.Re3 Qd6 32.Qe2 Bd7 33.c4 Bxd4 34.cxd5 Bxe3 35.Qxe3 Re8 36.Qc3 Qxd5 37.Bh6 Re5 38.Rf3 Qc5 39.Qa1 Bf5 40.Re3 f6 41.Rxe5 Qxe5 42.Qa2+ Qd5 43.Qxd5+ cxd5 44.Bd2 a4 45.Bc3 Kf7 46.h4 Ke6 47.Kg1 Bh3{{chesspunc|!!}} (''diagram'') 48.gxh3 Kf5 49.Kf2 Ke4 50.Bxf6 d4 51.Be7 Kd3 52.Bc5 Kc4 53.Be7 Kb3 {{chessAN|0–1}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1143956 |title=Topalov vs. Shirov, Linares 1998 |website=[[Chessgames.com]] }}</ref>

Shirov's bishop sacrifice (47...Bh3!!) is considered one of the greatest chess moves of all time.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.chess.com/article/view/best-chess-moves|title=The 10 Best Chess Moves Of All Time|first=Director of Written|last=Content (ColinStapczynski)|website=Chess.com}}</ref>

==Chess books==

Shirov has written two books on his best games:
*{{cite book | author=Shirov, Alexei | title=Fire on Board: Shirov's Best Games | publisher=Everyman Chess | year=1995 | isbn=1-85744-150-8}}
*{{cite book | author=Shirov, Alexei | title=Fire on Board, Part 2: 1997–2004 | publisher=Everyman Chess | year=2005 | isbn=1-85744-382-9}}

== References ==
{{reflist|30em}}

== Further reading ==
*{{Cite book |author=Kirillov, Valentin |year=2017 |title=Team Tal: An Inside Story |location=Moscow |publisher=Elk and Ruby Publishing House |isbn=978-5-950-04330-7 }}

==External links==
* {{FIDE}}
* {{Chessgames.com player|15809}}
* {{365Chess.com player|Alexei_Shirov}}
* {{Chess.com player|alexei-shirov}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shirov, Alexei}}
[[Category:1972 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Chess Grandmasters]]
[[Category:Chess Olympiad competitors]]
[[Category:Latvian chess players]]
[[Category:Spanish chess players]]
[[Category:Soviet chess players]]
[[Category:Chess players from Riga]]
[[Category:Latvian chess writers]]
[[Category:World Youth Chess Champions]]
[[Category:Latvian emigrants to Spain]]
[[Category:Naturalised citizens of Spain]]
[[Category:Latvian people of Russian descent]]